1. Field of the Invention
A frequency activated alarm system that automatically activates a base transceiver upon lack of a remote signal response, thereby activating predetermined safety features.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Boating is a popular, although dangerous, sport. Although there are frequent reports of boating accidents causing fatalities, many of the deaths are caused when people fall overboard and drown, prior to being found in choppy water. Various safety devices have addressed this problem, however none have provided the combination of mobility and safety to all persons on board the boat.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,483,683 a safety device design for use by a water skier is disclosed. The handle of the device contains a signal device that allows the skier to alert the boat as well as indicating that the skier has fallen. The alarm is activated by a signal which is initiated by a conscious effort by the skier or as a "dead man's switch". The device, as taught by Alley, is applicable only to skiers and will not work for boat passengers.
Hawthorne discloses in U.S. Pat. No. 4,785,291 a monitoring device that is used to alert a parent when a child wanders beyond a predetermined distance. The remote, when in the predetermined distance, causes the receiver to issue a slow "beep". Once the remote approaches the parameter, the beep becomes more frequent until, once the remote is beyond the parameter the beep becomes an alarm. This issue is addressed again in Narcissi's patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,593,273 wherein an Out-of-Range Personnel Monitor and Alarm is disclosed. Narcissi's device utilizes a receiver and remote system that activates an alarm when the remote is out of a predetermined range. Similarly, Peruse et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,289,163 discloses a Child Position Monitoring and Locating Device that activates an alarm on the receiver once the remote travels beyond the present distance. The device further includes a locating display which serves to locate the remote. Numerous other devices have been disclosed which serve to indicate that a remote is beyond a predetermined range. The prior art devices, however, are for use in a controlled or uncontaminated areas and therefore are not provided with sufficient environment protection or range to be used as a boating safety device.
The need for a warning device around water is recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 5,274,359 issued to Adams. The transmitter of the '359 is attached to a child and allows for a directional indication of the location of the child. The transmitter is activated by water and commences sending an encoded signal to the receiver. The encoded signal also serves to assist in locating the child.
An existing boat engine kill switch is a tethered device which must be manually attached to the operator of a powered boat and offers no direct safety factor for passengers. The tethered boat engine kill switch deactivates the ignition on the engine in the event the operator reaches the threshold of the tether. This severely limits the mobility of the operator, especially under working conditions. Because of this lack of mobility, the tethered engine kill switch is rarely used and places the operator, and needless to say the passengers, in a potentially life threatening situation in the event of ejection from the craft.
Although the danger around water has been recognized, none of the above prior art has addressed the issue of mobile water device safety pertaining to stopping the mobile device in the event of a passenger or driver overboard. U.S. Pat. No. 5,838,227, issued Nov. 17, 1998 discloses a safety device system for deactivating the power of an engine and is incorporated herein as though recited in full. It has now been found that to accommodate multiple transmitters, a polling system using a fully interlocked signal provides multiple advantages, especially when combined with a chip to send and receive a range of information.